It has been revealed that Nigeria recorded the highest case notification and detection rates of Tuberculosis (TB) in adults and children in 2024. The Minister of State for Health, Dr. Iziaq Salako, made the revelation at community outreach held in commemoration of this year’s World Tuberculosis Day at Sauka community in Abuja.
Based on the remarkable improvement, the minister said that Nigeria would meet the 2030 global target of ending TB. According to reports, Nigeria recorded TB notification of over 400,000 cases in 2024. This translates to a case detection rate of 79 per cent. There is remarkable improvement of TB notification among children, rising from 8,293 in 2018 to about 43,000 in 2024.
The theme of the 2025 World TB Day is “Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, Deliver.” It emphasizes the importance of sustained commitment, financial investment and effective delivery of interventions to end tuberculosis. Medical experts say that TB is caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis and it most often affects the lungs. It is also spread through the air when people with lung TB cough, sneeze and spit. They also say that a person needs to inhale only a few germs to become infected.
The symptoms of tuberculosis include prolonged cough, chest pain, weakness, fatigue, weight loss, fever and night sweats. Diabetes, weakened immune system, being malnourished, tobacco use and harmful use of alcohol can increase a person’s risk for TB disease. Not less than 10 million fall ill with TB yearly. Although it is a preventable and curable disease, about 1.5 million people die from TB each year, thereby making it the world’s most infectious killer disease.
Available facts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) show that a total of 1.25million people died from TB in 2023, including 161,000 people with HIV. Globally, TB is the world’s leading cause of death from a single infectious agent. In 2023, about 10.8 million people fell ill with TB worldwide, including 6.0 million men, 3.6 million women and 1.3 million children. TB is present in all countries and age groups.
Nigeria has the highest tuberculosis burden in Africa and the 6th globally. Not less than 467,000 people have active TB infections in Nigeria. This number accounts for about 4.6 per cent of the global TB burden. Nigeria has the highest number of drug-resistant tuberculosis and HIV-related tuberculosis. In 2023, Nigeria reported over 361,000 TB cases, with 9 per cent of those cases occurring in children. There is high TB mortality in the country. TB kills an estimated 268 people in Nigeria every day. This is equivalent to 125,000 deaths annually. The under-reporting of TB cases in the country has largely increased the risk of transmission.
It is commendable that the Federal Government has promised to inject N700billion in the fight against TB, HIV/AIDS and malaria in the country. According to the Chairman of the House Committee on HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria, Amobi Godwin Ogah, the amount would be a game-changer in the fight against TB and other deadly diseases. It is equally good that the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, is leading the campaign to end the TB scourge in the country by 2030.
Beyond this, the government needs to address stigma and discrimination against those affected by the disease. Government should also tackle the issue of poverty, malnutrition and overcrowded living conditions and inadequate access to health care services which fuel the spread of the condition. TB spread is also driven by ignorance and superstitious beliefs in some Nigerian cultures. People in some Nigerian ethnic groups believe that TB is spread through food poison by wicked people. Some believe it comes from spiritual attacks.
Regardless of these beliefs, the fact remains that TB is caused by a bacteria. It is not caused by evil spirits or diabolical means. However, the good news is that it is preventable and curable. The other one is that the drugs are available in all government health facilities throughout the country and the treatment is free. Such free treatment is also available in some private health facilities in the country.
Since TB is spread through ignorance and misinformation, there must be sustained enlightenment campaigns across the nation on the causes of the disease, symptoms, preventive measures and treatment options. Let the government also pay attention to diphtheria, meningitis, Lassa fever and other killer diseases that still ravage the country.